RESUMEN
Photodetachment spectra of anionic species provide significant insights into the energies and nature of ground and excited states of both the anion and resultant neutral molecules. Direct detachment of the excess electron to the continuum may occur via formally allowed or forbidden transitions (perhaps as the result of intensity borrowing through vibronic coupling). However, alternate indirect pathways are also possible and often overlooked. Here, we report a two-dimensional photoelectron spectral study, combined with correlated electronic structure calculations, to elucidate the nature of photodetachment from NiO2-. The spectra are comprised of allowed and forbidden transitions, in excellent agreement with previously reported slow electron velocity mapped imaging spectra of the same system, which were interpreted in terms of direct detachment. In the current work, the contributions of indirect processes are revealed. Measured oscillations in the branching ratios of the spectral channels clearly indicate non-direct detachment processes, and the electronic structure calculations suggest that excited states of the appropriate symmetry and degeneracy lie slightly above the neutral ground state. Taken together, the results suggest that the origin of the observed forbidden transitions is the result of anion excited states mediating the electron detachment process.
RESUMEN
The first photoelectron spectra of AgF(-) are recorded over the energy range 1.61-1.85 eV using the velocity map imaging technique. The resolved vibrational structure of the AgF X', v' â AgF(-) Xâ³, vâ³ = 0 band yields an AgF electron affinity of 1.46 ± 0.01 eV and vibrational frequency of 500 ± 40 cm(-1). For the v' = 2, 3, 4 channels, the photodetachment cross sections and angular distributions undergo rapid changes over a narrow electron kinetic energy range in the region of 50 meV (approximately 13 meV below the opening of the next vibrational channel). This is consistent with Fano-like behavior indicating autodetachment following excitation to a resonant anion state lying in the detachment continuum. EOM-CCSD calculations reveal this to be a dipole bound state. The consistency of the detachment data with the vibrational autodetachment propensity rule Δv = -1 shows that the autodetachment results from breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, coupling the vibrational and electronic degrees of freedom.
RESUMEN
The use of photoelectron angular distributions to provide structural details of cluster environments is investigated. Photoelectron spectra and angular distributions of I(-)·(H2O)2 and I(-)·(CH3CN)2 cluster anions are recorded over a range of photon energies. The anisotropy parameter (ß) for electrons undergoes a sharp change (Δßmax) at photon energies close to a detachment channel threshold. I(-)·(H2O)2 results show the relationship between dipole moment and Δßmax to be similar to that observed in monosolvated I(-) detachment. The Δßmax of the 4.0 eV band in the I(-)·(CH3CN)2 photoelectron spectrum suggests a dipole moment of 5-6 D. This is consistent with predictions of a hydrogen bonded conformer of the I(-)·(CH3CN)2 cluster anion [Timerghazin, Q. K.; Nguyen, T. N.; Peslherbe, G. H. J. Chem. Phys. 2002, 116, 6867-6870].
RESUMEN
A photodissociative study of CuO2(-) is presented using a combination of energy and time domain photoelectron spectroscopy. Ion source conditions are used that solely produce linear OCuO(-). Photodissociation of this isomer to produce Cu(-) + O2 is conclusively demonstrated at wavelengths between 765 and 340 nm. Nanosecond pulsed photoexcitation at wavelengths shorter than 340 nm produces single photon detachment transitions from the first excited state of CuO2(-). At longer wavelengths narrow Cu(-) fragment transitions are observed as a result of a sequential two photon process. In addition, the longer wavelengths produce a weak, broad two photon dependent signal, the result of detachment of the dissociating linear isomer. Time resolved pump-probe measurements reveal a long timescale growth (up to 150 ps) of the Cu(-) fragment yield, consistent with the unfavorable starting geometry for the dissociative process and indicating a potential energy surface which has one or more substantial barriers to dissociation.